Where to go for your autumn adventure
Autumn travel is for colour, culture and smaller crowds – as these six destinations prove. When Britain’s summertime ebbs away to autumn,
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Luang Prabang is considered to be the best preserved town in Southeast Asia. The former royal capital – also a Unesco World Heritage site, is a unique combination of Buddhist temples, French colonial architecture and historic Laotian buildings set amongst verdant mountains, cut through by the great Mekong River.
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South of Luang Prabang are the beautiful waterfalls of Kuang Si, which flow over multi-tiered layers of limestone rock. Visitors can swim in the clear pools beneath the falls to escape the heat, or explore the surrounding countryside on walking trails through the forest. The waterfalls can be a tranquil place for a picnic lunch while enjoying the scenery. The waterfalls are part of the Tat Kuang Si Park, which also encompasses the Tat Kuang Si Rescue Centre that cares for Asiatic black bears that have been confiscated by the Lao government from illegal poachers and traders.
Visit the village of Ban Na Ded and join a class in traditional Lao cooking, led by an expert chef from a restauarnt in Luang Prabang. Begin with instruction about the the ingredients that are key to Lao cuisine, then try your hand at making some traditional dishes, such as jeow (spicy dipping sauce), mok pa (steamed fish in banana leaves), lemongrass stuffed chicken, gaeng pet (spicy curry with minced fish), or tham mak hoong, which is a popular green papaya salad. Afterwards you may enjoy your creations for dinner.
Sail upstream on the Mekong river from Luang Prabang to the caves of Pak Ou. Here, thousands of Buddhist statues stand looking out of the caves. These figures are the accumulation of hundreds of years of offerings from worshippers to whom the caves represent the womb of the Earth. Enjoy a picnic lunch on the banks of the river while soaking up the riverside scenery. A trip up to the caves makes for a relaxing day and a chance to see something of the Laotian countryside.
The old town centre of Luang Prabang has been designated a Unesco world heritage site, and encompasses a range of Buddhist temples, monasteries and French colonial buildings, and can be easily explored on foot. Temples include Wat Visoun, a 16th-century temple that also serves as a small museum for religious artefacts. Wat Aham, an early 19th-century temple, features two guardian figures at the foot of the steps representing two characters from the Legend of Ramayana: Hanuman the Monkey God and a fierce Yaksa. There is also Wat Xieng Thong, a 16th-century temple that epitomises all the elegance and grace of Luang Prabang architecture. Make sure to visit the former royal palace of Luang Prabang, now converted into a national museum and housing a collection of artefacts including the famous Prabang Buddha statue and gifts received from foreign dignitaries. The building is a blend of French and Lao architectural styles and consists of different reception rooms, the throne hall and royal apartments. One of the highlights is the King's Reception Room, which is decorated with murals depicting scenes of everyday life in the city and a display of busts and paintings of former Lao monarchs.
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